Fire and Ice
by BitterSea
Summary: Tragedy befalls a shadowrunning team as they are swept up in events that could spell Earth's doom...some swearing, implied romance, parent-related angst.
1. Tragedy

"Great. It's raining again."  
  
Jersey glanced up from her seat next to Gizmo, pulling a piece of short, yellow and brown hair out of her face. "Sari, this is Seattle. What did you expect?" She looked back at the boy sitting in the driver's seat, who was too busy watching the fluorescent blue dials and monitors embedded in the dashboard to notice her interest. Jersey got the sense of being in an airplane cockpit every time she sat there.  
  
"How the hell do you drive this thing? It's got more buttons than a stealth bomber."  
  
"It's not that souped up." Gizmo shifted gears, egging the armored trid news station van into going a little faster.  
  
"Right. We can get from the Barrens to the Yoshimori arcology in fifteen minutes, and they're at least twenty-three miles apart. If I tried to drive like that, I'd kill someone."  
  
"Jersey," Sari looked up from her gun cleaning to look at her friend, "you'd kill someone if you tried to drive anything."  
  
"Would not!"  
  
"Would so. Aren't I right, Neko-chan?"  
  
A Japanese woman in the back of the van was busy putting various electronics equipment into a backpack. "Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, I guess." She put her arm out for balance as Gizmo made a hard right turn. "Hey, a little warning next time, okay? We're going what, 100 miles per hour?"  
  
He shot a look over his shoulder distractedly. "115, actually. I've got a new record."  
  
Jersey looked at him incredulously. "115! No fragging way! How does this thing work?"  
  
"Sorry, can't explain right now. Gotta focus on traffic, or else I'll crash, and Kyle'll kill me if that happens."  
  
A thick oak forest and three miles or more of electrical fences surrounded the Yoshimori Research Arcology. The fences were in disrepair in many places, and in others the trees grew close enough and tall enough for a brave soul to climb up them and jump to the other side. The four occupants of the van stepped out, their black outfits blending in with the gloom. Jersey was amazed at how short Neko looked without her usual two- inch heels. Kyle stood up, completely undetectable except for his light blonde hair.  
  
"You guys are on time."  
  
Sari looked over at him. "Well, duh. You didn't think we'd leave you hanging, didja?"  
  
"Well, no, I didn't, but I've got a funny feeling about this run. Something just isn't quite right."  
  
"Kyle, we went through this already. The Johnson is perfectly legit- you said so yourself. This isn't any more dangerous than any other run we've been on, and you know and I both know that we've never walked away from a run before, so-"  
  
"What the hell is wrong with you? A few weeks ago, you'd-"  
  
Neko stepped between the two, holding up her hands to separate them and call for silence. "We are professionals," she said slowly. "We will do our job quickly and quietly. If there are any problems, we notify the others and come back here. If you are unable to return, leave by any means necessary and lay low for a week or so." Her voice grew cold and commanding. "And if anyone tries to frag with me on this, they will find the favor returned in kind. Understood?" Everyone nodded in unison, wide- eyed and unblinking.  
  
Sari cleared her throat. "All right. I'll stay here with the rig. And remember-we really need the nuyen from this run, so no screw ups!"  
  
Neko started climbing the tree closest to the fence. "Let's go."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jersey paced back and forth outside a row of cubicles on the fourth floor. "Hey," she whispered. "Hey, have you got the data yet?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So you can explain decking to me now?"  
  
Neko nodded, waving her into the cramped cubicle. "Here, you see this little jack right here?" She pointed at a metal ring at her temple, and Jersey nodded. "Okay, I plug this cord into my datajack, and it lets my brain interact with the Matrix."  
  
"That's like the Internet, right?"  
  
"I wouldn't put it exactly like that. Yeah, it's kind of like the Internet, except the Internet couldn't give information directly to your brain. You had to take in information through your eyes and ears first. This way, I can take a walk around the Republic of Berlin and actually smell the flowers, shake hands with people, and taste the food in the restaurants."  
  
"So does it work the same way for Gizmo?"  
  
"What, rigging? No, see, when a decker's jacked in, their mind-" she waved her hand in the air as she searched for the right words. "It leaves their body. Riggers extend their consciousness to include the machine. Get it?"  
  
She thought for a moment, twirling a piece of her hair and trying to grasp the concept. "No. I guess it doesn't matter anyw-"  
  
Jersey and Neko dropped to their knees under the desk as the building began to shudder and quake. The lights flickered and shook and ceiling panels fell to the floor, revealing cables and cords, writhing and twisting together like adders. Slowly, the tremor receded; leaving in its wake a silence that belied the wreckage it had just caused. Jersey groped in the half-light for her wristphone, and after an eternity Neko put her hand out to stop her.  
  
"I just tried. No one's answering." She turned on a small flashlight. "I can't even get through to Sari's phone, or the one in the van."  
  
"Think that earthquake had something to do with it?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"You hurt at all?"  
  
Neko looked up. "No. This is just great. What do we do now?"  
  
"We get our hoops out of here." Kyle's voice made the two women jump back, knocking their heads against the bottom of the desk.  
  
"Damn it, Kyle! Don't sneak up on us like that!"  
  
"Sorry. We weren't very far from you guys, luckily. Our phones aren't working." The sprinklers came on suddenly, and a female voice came on over the loudspeakers.  
  
"There has been a terrorist bombing in Research and Development sector twelve. This is not a drill." Everyone looked at the speakers, startled. "All civilian employees please evacuate R & D sectors ten through fourteen, and Chemsynth labs one through five. All security and Lone Star personnel please report to your stations. I repeat."  
  
"Oh, drek." Jersey looked over at Kyle. "What sector are we in?"  
  
"We're in fourteen, I think."  
  
Neko shook her head. "Yeah, but where was the van parked?" Everyone looked at Gizmo, who was quickly turning paper-white. "Gizmo, where was the delivery entrance we parked outside of?"  
  
He looked at her, shaking. "Section twelve." 


	2. Betrayal

Disclaimer: I don't own Shadowrun. I don't even own any Shadowrun books. I do, however, own this story. Don't sue me, I'm broke. Not to be used for the other use. For indoor and outdoor use only.  
  
WARNING: Semi-graphic violence ahead. People die.  
  
Jersey slumped against the wall, feeling all strength leave her body. "This can't be happening. It can't be. Sari-"  
  
"FREEZE!" Three men in Lone Star uniforms ran into the hall, guns drawn. Two more men ran in behind them, shouting and pointing in Jersey's direction.  
  
She registered the searing pain of the bullet before she realized what had happened. She looked at her leg, at the slowly spreading red spot, and suddenly, something deep inside her started to stir. The world around her started moving slowly, as if out of a dream, and she could see the shapes of the policemen as clear as daylight in the half-lit gloom. She could smell their fear, and this time she was unaware when a second bullet grazed her shoulder. Her vision clouded over with a red mist and she blacked out.  
  
Jersey's vision cleared a little as she began to come back to herself. Her eyes slowly focused on the bodies around her as the other forms around her started becoming sharper and more solid. She sank to her knees, recognizing the sharp ache that was spreading from her arm and leg.  
  
"What happened? My. . .my arm. . .why can't I heal?"  
  
Kyle leaned over her, medkit in hand. "I'm not sure yet, but I think they used silver. Lucky for you, they couldn't aim."  
  
"But. . .my eyes. . .I can't remember. . . ."  
  
He helped her up by her good arm, and she let herself be led along in a daze, allowing her consciousness to slip away slowly, loosing first one sense, then the next, until, finally, she slipped into a deep, blank sleep.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Oh, good. She's asleep."  
  
"Does she have any idea?"  
  
"None whatsoever." Kyle slumped back in the seat of the car they'd stolen from the employee parking lot. "I admit, I've never seen her frenzy like that. Normally, she stays awake for two days straight when she comes out of one."  
  
Gizmo craned his neck around to look at him. "So, why'd she pass out instead of having a bout of insomnia?"  
  
Kyle held up one of the bullets. "They used silver plated bullets."  
  
"So?"  
  
"Gizmo," Neko sighed and shook her head. "Jersey's a shape-changer, remember? Like the kitsune, the fox spirits." She looked back at the sleeping woman. "They're allergic to silver."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jersey's eyes fluttered open. She blinked and looked around, trying to clear the warm red haze from her consciousness. She could catch a few murmurs around the room, but her sluggish brain refused to process them.  
  
". . .so much blood. . ."  
  
". . .worried about her wounds. . ."  
  
". . .the doctor. . ."  
  
She tried to sit up, but her movements only caused pain to jab at her shoulder and leg. Fireworks exploded behind her eyes, and she felt a chill wash over her body. Once more, she tried to pull herself up, and simply allowed herself to fall back, exhausted and helpless.  
  
"All right, Kyle, you can take her into the bedroom now. I've got as much blood cleaned up as possible."  
  
"Wh-" Jersey yawned, trying as best she could not to move. "What happened?"  
  
Kyle scooped her up, lifting her as slowly as possible. "You got shot."  
  
She was too tired and hurt to retort. "But the mist, I. . .what happened t-to the security guards?" The red haze was gone, and she could see bloodstained rags soaking in the sink. She caught glimpses of Neko-chan and Gizmo, and closed her eyes against another spasm of pain. Kyle gently placed her on the bed, smoothing her hair out on the pillow.  
  
"They're dead. They had silver bullets, with reinforced titanium cores. They weren't expecting you to. . ."  
  
"I frenzied."  
  
He nodded, pulling the comforter up to her neck.  
  
"You should've left me."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You should've left me when it happened. You know what I. . .what I could have done to-"  
  
"Jersey, I'm a mage. I have ways of subduing frenzied wereleopards, don't you worry about that." He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Frankly," he sighed, "I was more worried about the security guards."  
  
Gizmo stood up. "I know. I mean, expecting a decker or a full-blown mage is one thing, but a werecreature?"  
  
Kyle rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "They must have had a security mage. She'd actually be easy to spot by her astral form-her spirit, if you will. What I don't get is why the hell they had silver bullets. That's something you only get if you can prove that you actually need them. And how the hell did they know where we were going to park?"  
  
"They could be in the habit of blowing up their delivery trucks," Neko remarked dryly. "Or it could be that it was another shadowrunning team blowing up a building. I think it's coincidence.  
  
"I didn't like it." Jersey brushed her hair out of her face. "It was just too convenient. Besides, we didn't hear about anyone attempting a run against Yoshimori that night." she paused a moment before rubbing her temples and sighing. "I really don't think any of this could have been a coincidence."  
  
Her last, unsaid thought hung in the air, loud in the silence. Outside, the rain sloshed through gutters and leaf traps, washing trash and oil out into the street. Finally, Neko sat wearily in a blue chair that, like the rest of the Redmond Barrens, had once looked new.  
  
"We were set up."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
". . .cloudy skies and rain all weekend in the Seattle area. That's it for the weather, and now for the news. Back to you, Cindy."  
  
Jersey leaned her head against the window, drawing pictures in the fog that her breath formed on the window. She had been waiting for hours for Kyle to get back, with only the trid newscasts for company while she recovered. It wasn't the first time she had thanked the Creator for her quick healing, and she had a feeling it wouldn't be the last.  
  
"Thanks, Mac. Two weeks ago, terrorists bombed the Yoshimori Research arcology. Their motivation is still unclear, but Lone Star investigators involved in the case said yesterday that a metahuman body was found neat the wreckage of what appeared to be an old van, described as a 2054 Mitsubishi model." The newscaster's holographic image flickered fitfully, and the speakers sounded as if they were under three feet of water. "The explosion, which was called the worst of 2062, has destroyed 9,000 square feet of the arcology, including part of a third-story chemical synthesizing laboratory. In addition, the explosion created minor seismic waves that were felt as far away as the Seattle-UACS border.  
  
"Lone star officials say that leads in the case have been found and are being followed currently. No further information-" The trid's picture began to flicker maniacally, reducing the news broadcast to a series of unintelligible gurgles. It popped and crackled, finally emitting it's dying explosion in a sudden burst of black smoke.  
  
Jersey jumped out of her chair. "Fraggin' salesman!" she exclaimed as she kicked the plug out of the wall, causing sparks to blacken the wall around the outlet. " 'Most reliable model' my-"  
  
She felt her body tense before she knew the reason. She became acutely aware of the squeak of a floorboard behind her, and the slight change in air pressure that accompanies someone entering a room. She tried to spin around, but her arm was caught behind her, and for a moment she panicked.  
  
"You let your guard down?" She sighed and relaxed at the amazement and humor in Kyle's voice. "Jersey, you really need to get out."  
  
"I was distracted by the trid. What's up?"  
  
"Okay, you know how we did that FedEx run earlier?"  
  
"Oh, please don't tell me that the car got towed."  
  
"No problem. Anyway, we were heading back when Gizmo almost runs this kid down, right? Well, he was scared out of his wits, and we figured that leaving him out there would be completely irresponsible. I mean, he could get gunned down, or worse, and at any rate, he's about fourteen, fifteen at the oldest."  
  
"No way." She thought a moment and sat down next to the ancient couch. "He's not an informant or anything, is he?"  
  
"Nope. Checked him for bugs, and he cleared. No cyberware except for a datajack. We checked that, too."  
  
Jersey wasn't convinced. "Kyle, that run took you guys through parts of the Barrens that make Yakuza assassins nervous. And you're telling me that you found a kid, a kid who should still be in school, who let you check him for bugs and scan his cyber ware?" Her voice pitched up a notch. "Next you'll be telling me that he was an unarmed runaway from the Renraku arcology."  
  
"He is."  
  
Jersey's mouth dropped wide open. "A runaway! We gotta deal with a runaway?" Kyle simply toyed with a wisp of smoke, thoughtfully. "Doesn't this just strike you as a little weird? I mean, this kid just drops out of nowhere in the middle of an investigation?"  
  
"I know, Jersey. It sounds weird, but I swear this kid's for real. He's got no clue what the streets are like. He's probably never been away from the arcology before."  
  
She sighed in resignation. "All right, when do I get to meet this kid?"  
  
"As soon as possible. Neko-chan's off following some lead and I don't want to leave Giz alone in the slums with the half-pint if I can help it."  
  
"M'kay, fine, but-"  
  
The phone rang, and Jersey leaped over the back of the faded china- blue couch. She reached out for it, but Kyle grabbed it out from under her hand. "Hello?"  
  
She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "You've always gotta be the first one to the phone, huh?"  
  
"Shh!" His eyes darted from the door to the phone cradle as he listened, nodding slowly. "Mhm. . .huh. . .right, thanks." He replaced the receiver, holding his body as still as he could. Jersey's feet seemed to put roots into the floor as she felt his search spell brush past her.  
  
"Kyle?" He turned towards her with two fingers against his lips. Don't talk, he mouthed.  
  
Bugged? She didn't move, fearing that a camera had been placed. . .when? She'd been recuperating for a week and a half, for goodness sake!  
  
Telephone repairman? he wrote on a notepad that was sitting next to the phone. She picked the pencil up, glad that her movements couldn't be watched. Probably.  
  
He pointed at the window and mimed a steering wheel. She was already headed to the other side of the room-and the fire escape.  
  
She slid down the ladders, jumping down a story or three in the places where the escape had became too dilapidated to use. Every time she put weight on her foot, her leg burned with pain, and Kyle soon caught up with her as her wounds forced her to slow down. Within seconds, she could hear gunshots above her, and she glanced down to see Kyle staring at the end of the alley behind the complex and drawing his gun. She cried out as a bullet hit her left arm, knocking her away from the fire escape. She twisted in midair, desperately hoping that the distance was enough for her to right herself. She heard more than felt the spine-jarring crunch that traveled up her legs when she landed.  
  
"F-freeze! This. . .uh. . .this is Lone Star! Put your w-weapons down! You are under arrest."  
  
She smiled at the shocked look on the cop's face as she slowly stood up and closed her eyes. The stunned murmurs wafted towards her in an unusual moment of silence.  
  
"Jesus fraggin' Christ! The bullet didn't even faze her!"  
  
"To hell with the bullet! She fell three stories!"  
  
"Oh, drek. . . ."  
  
Jersey stood motionless and looked at the car. Kyle was already in it, and the door was open, although the angle would require her to use her bad arm. . . .  
  
She dove into the car and slammed the door shut behind her, wincing as she fell on her wounded arm. Police scattered in front of the small black car, trying in vain to go start their cruisers.  
  
"Ma'am, they're getting away!" One of the officers turned to a dark blue car in the middle of the street and leaned over next to the open driver's side window in a panic. A cloud of cigarette smoke streamed out and he coughed violently.  
  
"Don't bother me with trivial details. I know where they're going. Your job here is done."  
  
"But the mage! And that. . .that thing!"  
  
The woman in the car tried to speak through her muffled laughter. "The wereleopard?" She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "I said your job here is done. If you like, you may search the apartment. You might find something interesting." She rolled the window up and drove away, leaving the officer saluting in a cloud of exhaust. 


End file.
